JP2008105819A - Sheet position regulating mechanism and sheet storage device provided therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet position regulating mechanism capable of ensuring smooth and sure locking even a position regulating member high enough to meet a relatively large amount of sheets and of facilitating locking and releasing operations on the position regulating member, and a sheet storage device therewith. <P>SOLUTION: A retaining part 40 for supporting a lock lever 37 from a side surface is installed in a protruding manner on the back surface 30a of a rear end cursor 30. A guide hole 41 formed on the retaining part 40 is slidably engaged with an engaging projection 43. The lock lever 37 is arranged in a first position where a locking part 37b is engaged with a rack 36 by the energizing force of a coil spring 47. When an operating part 37a is pressed in such a direction as to approach the rear end cursor 30, the lock lever 37 slides in a diagonally upward direction to move the engaging projection 43 at the upper end of the guide hole 41. This causes the lock lever 37 to be arranged in a second position for releasing the engagement of the locking part 37b and the rack 36. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper position regulating mechanism for regulating a paper storage position used in an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine or a laser printer, and in particular, a position regulating member (cursor) for positioning paper in the paper storage apparatus. It is related to the operability of.

  The configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus is shown in FIG. In an image forming apparatus (for example, a printer) 100, when performing an image forming operation, a photosensitive drum 5 that rotates clockwise in the drawing is uniformly charged by a charging unit 4, and an exposure unit (laser scanning unit) based on document image data. Etc.) An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5 by the laser beam from 7, and a developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) is attached to the electrostatic latent image by the developing unit 8 to form a toner image.

  The toner is supplied to the developing unit 8 from the toner container 9. The image data is transmitted from a personal computer (not shown) or the like. Further, a static elimination device (not shown) for removing residual charges on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is provided on the downstream side of the cleaning device 18.

  The sheet is conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 10 via the sheet conveyance path 11 and the registration roller pair 12 toward the photosensitive drum 5 on which the toner image is formed as described above, and is transferred by the transfer roller 13 (image transfer unit). A toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred to a sheet. The sheet onto which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 5 and conveyed to a fixing unit 14 having a fixing roller pair 14a to fix the toner image. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 14 is conveyed to the upper part of the apparatus via the sheet conveying path 15 and is discharged to the discharge tray 17 from the discharge roller pair 16.

  Next, the configuration of the paper feed cassette will be described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the paper feed cassette 10 is pulled out from the main body of the image forming apparatus 1. In FIG. 6, a sheet stacking plate 28 is provided on the cassette base 25 so as to be movable up and down around the left and right fulcrums 32a and 32b. 29a and 29b are a pair of width alignment cursors for positioning in the width direction of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking plate 28, and reciprocate in the sheet width direction (arrow AA 'direction in the figure) along guide rails (not shown). It is provided to be movable. Reference numeral 30 denotes a rear end cursor for aligning the rear ends of the sheets. Here, since the sheet is sent in the direction of arrow B toward the sheet conveyance path 11 (see FIG. 5), the rear end cursor 30 is parallel to the sheet conveyance direction along the guide rails 31a and 31b (in the direction of arrow BB 'in the figure). ) Is provided so as to be reciprocally movable.

  By moving the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b and the rear end cursor 30 in accordance with the size of the stacked paper, the paper is stored in a predetermined position in the paper feed cassette 10. Reference numeral 34 denotes a cassette cover whose front side (side seen from the direction of arrow C) is exposed to the outside and constitutes a part of the exterior surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 (see FIG. 5). A display member 35 that displays the remaining amount of paper in the paper feed cassette 10 is provided at the end of the cassette cover 34.

  In the conventional paper cassette as described above, the position to which the user has moved is to prevent inadvertent movement of the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b or the rear end cursor 30 due to impact or vibration when the paper cassette is attached or detached. It has a lock mechanism that locks it. For example, in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 7, a rack 36 having serrated rack teeth is provided in parallel with the guide rails 31a and 31b, and a lock lever 37 attached to the rear end cursor 30 is provided with a predetermined lever. A paper feed cassette is disclosed that includes a locking mechanism that engages the rack 36 in position.

  In FIG. 7, guided portions 30a and 30b are provided at both lower ends in the width direction of the rear end cursor 30, and the guided portions 30a and 30b engage with the guide grooves 38 of the guide rails 31a and 31b. Thus, the rear end cursor 30 can reciprocate along the guide rails 31a and 31b. The lock lever 37 is integrally formed with an operation portion 37 for operating and releasing the lock mechanism and a locking portion 37 b provided with engagement teeth for engaging with the rack 36, and rotates around a fulcrum 39. Supported as possible. The lock lever 37 is urged clockwise by urging means (not shown), and the locking portion 37b is normally engaged with the rack 36 to operate the lock mechanism.

  When changing the paper size from the state shown in FIG. 7, the user turns the lock lever 37 counterclockwise against the urging force to disengage the engaging portion 37b from the rack 36 and release the lock. To do. In this state, the rear end cursor 30 is moved in the arrow B direction along the guide rails 31a and 31b to the predetermined scale position while holding the lock lever 37. Finally, the lock lever 37 is released to engage the locking portion 37b and the rack 36, and the lock mechanism is operated so that the rear end cursor 30 does not move.

  According to the method of Patent Document 1, the rear end cursor 30 can be easily and reliably locked at an arbitrary position, but the operation direction of the lock lever 37 is a direction orthogonal to the operation direction of the rear end cursor 30. Therefore, it is necessary to operate the rear end cursor 30 with the other hand while holding the lock lever 37 with one hand, and the operability is deteriorated. Moreover, since the operation part 37a protrudes to the side of the rear end cursor 30, a large arrangement space is required.

  On the other hand, when the operation direction of the lock lever 37 is matched with the operation direction of the rear end cursor 30, the rotation direction of the locking portion 37b is perpendicular to the groove direction of the rack 36. In order to smoothly engage and disengage, it is necessary to avoid the interference between the locking portion 37b and the rack 36 by providing the pivot fulcrum of the lock lever 37 as low as possible. Therefore, as the height of the cursor increases, the user has to operate the lock lever by extending his finger downward, and the operability deteriorates.

  In addition, it is possible to improve the operability of the lock lever by extending the operating part long upwards or by providing a cutout in the cursor, but when the operating part is extended, it protrudes greatly from the back of the cursor to save space If the cursor is notched, the strength of the cursor is reduced. Here, the rear end cursor 30 for aligning the rear end of the sheet is described as an example, but the situation is the same for the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b for aligning in the width direction of the sheet.

Further, in Patent Document 2, a lock piece for fixing the width alignment cursor at a predetermined position is provided on the cassette frame, and a release rod for bending the lock piece to release the engagement with the width alignment cursor is provided on the rear surface of the width alignment cursor. A paper feed cassette is disclosed. However, in the method of Patent Document 2, since the width alignment cursor is locked by bending deformation of the lock piece, in the case of a paper feed cassette having a relatively large amount of paper, the lock piece is bent due to the weight of the paper, and the width alignment cursor. There was a problem that it could not be securely locked. In addition, it is necessary to pull up the release rod along the back of the cursor to release the engagement, and push it down further to engage it. Therefore, the lock mechanism cannot be operated simultaneously with the movement of the cursor. It was.
JP 2001-187642 A JP-A-2005-231862

  In view of the above problems, the present invention is capable of smoothly and reliably locking the position restricting member even in a position restricting member having a height that can handle a relatively large amount of paper, and also performing the locking and releasing operations of the position restricting member. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet position regulating mechanism that is easy to handle and a sheet storage device including the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a position restricting member that is reciprocally movable along the bottom surface of a housing that accommodates paper, restricts the position of the paper that is stored in the housing, and the position restricting member. And a lock mechanism that locks at an arbitrary position, wherein the lock mechanism includes a rack provided on the bottom surface of the housing and a locking portion that engages with the rack. And a fixing member that is slidably supported so as to approach obliquely upward and separate obliquely downward with respect to the rear surface, and operate the fixing member in a direction toward or away from the rear surface of the position regulating member. By doing so, it is characterized in that it is selectively arranged at a first position where the locking portion and the rack are engaged and a second position where the engagement between the locking portion and the rack is released. .

  According to the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism having the above-described configuration, a guide portion that guides the fixing member to the first position and the second position is provided on the back surface of the position regulating member. The present invention is characterized in that a support portion that slidably supports the side surface is provided.

  According to the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism having the above-described configuration, an urging unit that urges the fixing member in the first position direction is provided.

  According to the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism having the above-described configuration, when the fixing member is in the first position, the fixing member is held substantially parallel to the rear surface of the position regulating member, and the second member A holding means for allowing the fixing member and the position regulating member to approach each other is provided, which is elastically deformed with movement to the position.

  The present invention is also a paper storage device including the paper position regulating mechanism having the above-described configuration.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the moving direction of the position restricting member and the operation direction of the fixing member are the same direction, and the user can place the fixing member at the second position simply by pressing the fixing member toward the position restricting member. Therefore, the operability of the lock mechanism is improved. In addition, the fixing member approaches obliquely upward with respect to the back surface of the position regulating member and is separated obliquely downward, so that the amount of movement of the fixing member during operation of the lock mechanism is kept small, and the interference between the locking portion and the rack is suppressed. Can be easily avoided.

  Further, according to the second configuration of the present invention, in the paper position regulation mechanism of the first configuration, the support unit that slidably supports the side surface of the fixing member is provided on the back surface of the position regulation member, By forming a guide portion that guides the fixing member to the first position and the second position, the fixing member can be operated more smoothly with a simple configuration.

  According to the third configuration of the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism of the first or second configuration, the fixing member is provided by urging means for urging the fixing member in the first position direction. It is possible to automatically place the first position by simply removing the pressing force.

  According to the fourth configuration of the present invention, in the paper position regulating mechanism having any one of the first to third configurations, the fixing member is held substantially parallel to the back surface of the position regulating member and elastically deformed. By providing the holding means that allows the fixing member and the position restricting member to approach each other, the posture when the fixing member is in the first position is maintained and the wobbling is suppressed, and the smooth movement to the second position is performed. Can also be secured.

  Further, according to the fifth configuration of the present invention, the operability of the lock mechanism of the position control member is improved by mounting the paper position control mechanism having any one of the first to fourth configurations on the paper storage device. This is a convenient paper storage device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration around a rear end cursor of a paper feed cassette provided with a paper position regulating mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the paper position regulating mechanism of the present invention. Portions common to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lock lever 37 is a resin member having a substantially T-shape in a side view having a convex portion 39 in the center, and the convex portion 39 of the lock lever 37 is supported from the side surface on the back surface 30 a of the rear end cursor 30. A supporting portion 40 is provided to project. A long hole-shaped guide hole 41 is formed in the support portion 40, and the engagement protrusion 43 on the side surface of the convex portion 39 is slidably engaged. An upper end portion of the lock lever 37 is an operation portion 37a, and an emboss is formed to prevent slipping when the lock lever 37 is gripped. A locking portion 37 b that meshes with the rack 36 is formed at the lower end of the lock lever 37.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lock lever 37 has an opening 45 below the convex portion 39, and a lower end of the coil spring 47 is fixed to the lower end of the opening 45. The upper end of the coil spring 47 is fixed to the rear end cursor while being compressed by a predetermined amount from its natural length, and the lock lever 37 is biased downward by the biasing force of the coil spring 47.

  A contact piece 49 is integrally formed above the convex portion 39, and the tip of the contact piece 49 comes into contact with the back surface 30a of the rear end cursor 30, so that the posture of the lock lever 37 is substantially parallel to the back surface 30a. Hold on. The contact piece 49 is not fixed to the rear end cursor 30 and can be elastically deformed and restored by a pressing force.

  FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state where the locking portion of the lock lever is engaged with the rack, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state where the engagement between the locking portion and the rack is released. . The operation procedure of the paper position regulating mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Now, when the rear end cursor 30 is at a predetermined paper size position (for example, A4 size), the lock lever 37 is pushed down along the support portion 40 by the urging force of the coil spring 47 (see FIG. 2) as shown in FIG. The engagement protrusion 43 stops at a position where it reaches the lower end of the guide hole 41. At this time, the lock lever 37 is disposed at a position where the locking portion 37b and the rack 36 are engaged (hereinafter referred to as a first position).

  When the user moves the rear end cursor 30 in accordance with the change in the paper size, the user holds the operation part 37a above the rear end cursor 30 and the lock lever 37 at the same time, and brings the lock lever 37 closer to the back surface 30a of the rear end cursor 30. Press in the direction (direction of arrow D in FIG. 3). As a result, the contact piece 49 is elastically deformed and the lock lever 37 slides obliquely upward (in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 3) along the support portion 40 against the urging force of the coil spring 47. The part 37b also moves in a direction away from the rack 36 (in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 3). Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the lock lever 37 stops at a position where the engagement protrusion 43 reaches the upper end of the guide hole 41. At this time, the lock lever 37 is disposed at a position where the engagement between the locking portion 37b and the rack 36 is released (hereinafter referred to as a second position).

  Thereafter, the rear end cursor 30 is moved in the arrow BB ′ direction while maintaining the state of FIG. 4 in which the lock lever 37 is in the second position, and is adjusted to a predetermined position according to the paper size. When the hand holding the rear end cursor 30 and the operation unit 37a is released in a state where the alignment is completed, the lock lever 37 is again moved obliquely downward by the biasing force of the coil spring 47 and is disposed at the first position. The movement of the rear end cursor 30 is restricted.

  With this configuration, the operation direction (arrow D direction) of the lock lever 37 can be matched with the movement direction (arrow BB ′ direction) of the rear end cursor 30. That is, the user can hold the rear end cursor 30 and the operation unit 37a at the same time to place the lock lever 37 at the second position, and can move the rear end cursor 30 to a predetermined position without releasing the hand. Further, the lock lever 37 can be arranged at the first position by simply releasing the hand that has been holding the lock lever 37. Therefore, the locking mechanism can be locked and released and the rear end cursor 30 can be moved as a series of operations, and the operability of the rear end cursor 30 is improved.

  Further, since the lock lever 37 slides while maintaining a substantially parallel state with the back surface of the rear end cursor 30, even if the movement amount of the lock lever 37 is kept small when the lock mechanism is locked and released, Interference with the rack 36 can be easily avoided, and the paper position regulating mechanism can be made compact.

  Here, a locking mechanism that can lock the lock lever 37 at the first position may be provided to prevent unnecessary movement of the rear end cursor 30. However, when the lock lever 37 is moved to the second position or when the lock lever 37 is moved again to the first position after the rear end cursor 30 is moved, it is necessary to separately operate the locking mechanism. And operability is reduced. Therefore, a configuration in which the coil spring 47 is provided as in the above-described embodiment, the lock lever 37 automatically returns from the second position to the first position, and the locking portion 37b can be pressed against the rack 36 with an appropriate pressure is preferable. .

  Here, the coil spring 47 is compressed and used as a means for urging the lock lever 37 in the first position direction. For example, one end is set to the upper end of the opening 45 in a state where the coil spring 47 is extended by a predetermined amount from the natural length. The other end may be fixed to the lower end of the rear end cursor 30 and the coil spring 47 may be used as a tension spring. Alternatively, other spring members such as a torsion spring and a torsion coil spring can be used.

  In the above embodiment, the engagement protrusion 43 provided on the convex portion 39 of the lock lever 37 is engaged with the guide hole 41 formed in the support portion 40 so that the lock lever 37 is moved to the first position and the second position. However, for example, a guide groove may be provided instead of the guide hole 41, a guide hole or a guide groove is provided on the convex portion 39 side, and an engagement protrusion is provided on the support portion 40 side. It is also good.

  There is no particular limitation on the tilt angle (the angle of the guide hole or guide groove) when the lock lever 37 slides. However, since the amount of upward movement of the locking portion 37b decreases as the tilt angle decreases, the rack In order to avoid interference between 36 and the locking portion 37b, it is necessary to increase the operation amount of the lock lever 37. Therefore, the inclination angle is preferably about 45 ° from the viewpoint of making the lock mechanism compact.

  In addition, the elastically deformable contact piece 49 is integrally formed with the lock lever 37 as means for holding the lock lever 37 substantially parallel to the back surface 30a. However, the contact piece 49 may be fixed as a separate member or contacted. Instead of the piece 49, a coil spring, a leaf spring, or the like may be arranged in the gap between the lock lever 37 and the rear end cursor 30.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the trailing edge of the sheet is aligned and the storage position in the sheet conveyance direction is regulated has been described. However, the edge of the sheet in the width direction is aligned to convey the sheet. The same applies to a case where the present invention is applied to the width alignment cursors 29a and 29b (see FIG. 6) that regulate the storage position in the direction orthogonal to the direction.

  In the above-described embodiment, the paper storage device mounted on the image forming apparatus and used as a paper supply source has been described. However, the paper position restriction mechanism of the present invention is, for example, a manual feed mechanism used as a supply source of slip sheets. The present invention can also be applied to a width alignment cursor of A, or a width alignment cursor of an automatic document feeder (ADF).

  The present invention provides a position restricting member that reciprocates along the bottom surface of a housing that stores paper, restricts the position of the paper stored in the housing, and a lock that locks the position restricting member at an arbitrary position. A locking mechanism that includes a rack provided on the bottom surface of the housing and a locking portion that engages with the rack, and is inclined obliquely upward and obliquely upward with respect to the back surface of the position limiting member. It consists of a fixing member that is slidably supported so as to be spaced downward, and the locking portion and the rack are engaged by operating the fixing member in a direction approaching or separating from the back surface of the position regulating member. The first position to be selected and the second position at which the engagement between the locking portion and the rack is released are selectively arranged.

  As a result, the operation direction of the fixing member can be matched with the movement direction of the position restricting member, the operability of the lock mechanism is excellent, and the interference between the locking portion and the rack during operation of the lock mechanism can be easily avoided. A simple paper position regulating mechanism is provided at a low cost. In addition, a support portion including a guide portion that guides the fixing member to the first position and the second position, an urging means that urges the fixing member to the first position, or holds the posture of the fixing member. Since the holding means is provided, the operation of the fixing member becomes smoother and more reliable.

  In addition, since the paper position regulation mechanism of the present invention is mounted on the paper storage device, a user-friendly paper storage device that can store paper smoothly and reliably at a predetermined position and has improved operability of the position control member is provided. Can be provided.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration around a rear end cursor of a paper feed cassette provided with a paper position regulating mechanism of the present invention. These are front views of the paper position regulating mechanism of the present invention. These are side surface sectional drawings which show the state which the latching | locking part of a lock lever is engaging with the rack. These are side surface sectional drawings which show the state by which engagement with the latching | locking part and the rack was cancelled | released. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an overall configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus. These are perspective views which show the structure of the conventional paper feed cassette. These are enlarged views near the rear end cursor of a conventional paper feed cassette.

Explanation of symbols

10 Paper cassette (paper storage device)
25 Cassette base (housing)
28 Paper loading plates 29a, 29b Width alignment cursor (position regulating member)
30 Rear end cursor (position restriction member)
30a Rear side 36 Rack 37 Lock lever (fixing member)
37a Operation part 37b Locking part 39 Convex part 40 Support part 41 Guide hole (guide part)
43 engagement protrusion 45 opening 47 coil spring (biasing means)
49 Contact piece (holding means)
100 Image forming apparatus

Claims (5)

A position restricting member that is reciprocally movable along the bottom surface of the housing for storing the paper, restricts the position of the paper stored in the housing, and a lock mechanism for locking the position restricting member at an arbitrary position; In the paper position regulation mechanism with
The lock mechanism has a rack provided on the bottom surface of the housing and a locking portion that engages with the rack, and is slidable so as to approach obliquely upward and to be separated obliquely downward with respect to the rear surface of the position regulating member. And a fixing member supported by
By operating the fixing member in a direction approaching or separating from the back surface of the position regulating member, the first position where the locking portion and the rack are engaged, and the locking portion and the rack A paper position regulating mechanism characterized by being selectively arranged at a second position where the engagement is released.   Provided on the back surface of the position regulating member is a support portion that has a guide portion that guides the fixing member to the first position and the second position, and supports the side surface of the fixing member so as to be slidable. The paper position regulating mechanism according to claim 1.   The paper position regulating mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing unit that biases the fixing member in the first position direction.   When the fixing member is in the first position, the fixing member is held substantially parallel to the back surface of the position regulating member, and elastically deformed with the movement to the second position, 4. A sheet position regulating mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising holding means for allowing the position regulating member to approach.   A sheet storage device comprising the sheet position regulating mechanism according to claim 1.